Kams: Bullying bill Is about safety

A letter published on this page Friday in opposition to anti-bullying legislation in Massachusetts missed the point by a distance that can only measured in light years ("Bully bill bull," March 26).

A letter published on this page Friday in opposition to anti-bullying legislation in Massachusetts missed the point by a distance that can only measured in light years ("Bully bill bull," March 26).

The legislation is about one thing: school safety. That's why a growing coalition of 50 organizations including the Anti-Defamation League New England, MA Teachers' Association, MA Police Chiefs' Association, MA Association of School Committees, Microsoft, and Kevin Youkilis' Hits for Kids has united behind it. That's why our State Senate and House of Representatives unanimously endorsed it. That's why 41 other states have adopted their own anti-bullying laws.

The point of the legislation is to empower all members of a school community school staff, administrators, students, and parents with the training, resources, and tools they need to prevent and respond to incidents of bullying.

Absent a law, students will continue to struggle with the increasingly destructive impact of bullying and cyber-bullying. Two recent cases of school-based bullying in the Commonwealth resulted in suicide. Far too many incidents have lowered children's' self-esteem and created needlessly hostile learning environments.

Our kids deserve safer schools, and fortunately the legislative Conference Committee now is poised to report out a final anti-bullying bill to deliver just that.

ROSE KAMS,

Framingham

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